Well I don't think everyone was talking to you then. Because most of us were debating the merits of a Flaherty+Weaver+Kelly+Grichuk package for Archer+Colome.jagtrader wrote:I'm talking about the Cardinals pooling their resources for better players instead of spending $14-15 million and two roster spots on Mikolas and Gregerson. That morphed into a debate about whether Archer is overrated.Popeye_Card wrote:Just to be clear, what exactly are we arguing here? Whether Archer is an upgrade for the Cardinals rotation? Of course he would be. He slots in at 1/2 with Carlos Martinez, and pushes either Wacha or Wainwright to the bullpen.
Or are we arguing if Archer's cost of acquisition is worth pursuing him over other options? If the cost to acquire is more than two of Reyes/Weaver/Flaherty/Kelly, I'm going to prefer other options. Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta both could slot in at that same 1/2 spot in the rotation, and only cost cash--which we have plenty of. Then you get to hang on to Reyes, Flaherty, and Weaver to see how they all pan out to fill in that back of the rotation.
That's not about pooling financial resources. That's about reducing your pool of exciting pitching prospects from 3 down to 1, plus giving up possibly the best catcher prospect in MLB. That's the kind of package you give up for a Chris Sale, not a Chris Archer IMO.